Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Sylvian Arend |
Discovery date | October 4, 1951[1] |
Designations | |
1951 Q4, 1959 O4 | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Epoch | 2009-Mar-01 |
Aphelion | 6.2531 AU |
Perihelion | 1.9237 AU[2] |
Semi-major axis | 4.0884 AU |
Eccentricity | 0.52947 |
Orbital period | 8.27 a |
Inclination | 19.158° |
Last perihelion | 2016-Feb-08[3] November 1, 2007[3] |
Next perihelion | 2024-May-12[4] |
Comet Arend or 50P/Arend is a periodic comet in the Solar System which was discovered on October 4, 1951.[1] It was discovered by astronomer Sylvain Julien Victor Arend[1] at the Royal Observatory of Belgium located in the municipality of Uccle. The comet was illustrated at approximately a magnitude of 14 and also exhibited a nucleus within a coma 14 arc seconds across. From its discovery, the comet has had 7 perihelions with its last return of Earth recorded on November 1, 2007.[3][5][6][7][8] The comet's next perihelion will be in the year 2024.[9][10]